


Lost On The Convention Floor

by itsab



Category: Arthur Christmas (2011)
Genre: Conventions, F/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23769916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsab/pseuds/itsab
Summary: Steve Christmas nary takes a day off, but the man is too excited for the convention. Turns out, a day off can be good for the soul... and maybe, the love-life?
Relationships: Steve Christmas/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Lost On The Convention Floor

**Author's Note:**

> I found out that their family name is Claus? I thought it was Christmas? Wow

Steve Christmas rarely left the North Pole.

Unlike his brother, Steve’s job meant he was usually on the ground of the North Pole Headquarters – he practically ran the place, after all. Who else was to run the elves, and ensure that Christmas went off without a hitch? If Arthur was the face-and-heart of the ‘company’, Steve was the brain-and-lungs. He was running the enterprise.

So, Steve seldom left HQ. There wasn’t much need to… But the San Diego convention centre held an enormous technology fete every year, drawing thousands of peoples to it each time. This happened to be the first year that Steve allowed himself to go.

Now, however, he found himself slightly lost as he wandered the convention floor. The building was massive, and he hadn’t stepped a single foot into it before… so, it wasn’t odd that he had lost his way. The tall, white-haired man had been staring intently at the paper map he’d been given upon his entering of the convention, but eventually abandoned it in favour of his HOHO 3000 – it was far more accurate, anyway.

“Wow!” A distinctly female voice gasped loudly, from just behind Steve. The sudden interruption to his musings surprised him a bit. Turning around, he saw a fairly pretty woman, who looked close to himself in age. She had a metaphorical sparkle in her eye, and it reminded him of his excitable younger brother. The woman was gazing wondrously at the HOHO 3000 (a gadget of his own design, made especially for those working at the North Pole), “Where did you get that?”

“I made it, uh, a few years ago.” The girl’s eyes widened in awe, gawking at the machine in his large hands. She flicked an interested look to his face, waiting for him to give her more information. “It, um, helps with the organisation that my job requires.” Steve was trying hard to not seem suspicious in any way, as he explained what he’d made the HOHO for. “We, uh, I needed a reliable way to organise everything, and found other systems too glitchy.” Yes, and most of them couldn’t take thousands of elves using it all at once – the original Apple products they’d used in the early nineties were still sealed in a room just past Grandsanta’s hobby-room (the fire that they had caused in 1997 had been huge).

She sent him a smile that forced contentment through his veins, “That is so cool! I would never think to do something like that.” Holding her hand out, she offered her name, “I’m Y/N Y/L.”

“Steve.” He shook her hand, not offering his last name; knowing how odd it could come off to regular people. “So, what brings you here today, Y/N?”

Y/N let go of his hand, dropping it to play with the bag strap that went across her chest. “Oh,” She chuckled slightly, seeming to be embarrassed by what she was going to tell him, “I, uh… I actually come here every year. I’m just absolutely fascinated by all of this stuff.” Not leaving time for him to comment, she went on, “I work as an art and technology teacher, at a school not far from here. So, I guess it’s not much of a journey. Not like you.” Steve sent a puzzled look down at her, “That’s an English accent, right?”

Oh. Well, his parents had the accent, so it was only natural that he and his brother did too, both picking it up when they were young. However, Steve couldn’t just say that he was from the North Pole, so he went along with her, “Right.” He nodded, hoping that he wasn’t coming off odd with his choppy answers. Again, suspicious was the last thing he needed to be. “Well, this is my first year coming here, and I already got lost.” Should he ask her? “Since you’ve been here before, um, perhaps you could show me around?”

Y/N bit her bottom lip, and Steve watched, fascinated, as her eyes darted over his face and body, before looking away. “Oh, um… Yeah, sure.” Y/N waved her hand to her left (Steve’s right), gesturing to a large, crowded area of the convention floor, “After you, Steve.”

The two had roamed the convention floor for hours, taking in and testing dozens of gadgets, computer systems, new smartphones and tablets. Occasionally, and secretly, Steve would take note of things that he felt Headquarters might find useful – he was particularly intrigued about a program designed to help hospital staff with their rosters and such, believing that it could be easily adapted and later administered for the North Pole.

Eventually, though, night fell.

The staff of the convention centre were calling over the loudspeaker, “The convention centre will be closing in 30 minutes.” Steve and Y/N had been working their way around the convention, and had been walking closer to the exits when the announcement was called. Leisurely, the two gripped their bags and headed out of the main exits, quickly being enveloped in the cool night air.

“Well, I, uh… I guess this is goodbye.” Y/N awkwardly raised her left palm into the air, the arm laden with bags she’d picked up during the day. “It was really nice meeting you, Steve. I… I had a lot of fun with you today.”

Steve smiled minutely, feeling like he was younger than he truly was – Y/N had an effect on him, one he’d never felt before. “Thank you for showing me around today, Y/N. I, uh, it was…” He trailed off, not being able to verbalise how he felt, deciding to begin a new sentence instead. “Can we, uh… Could we, perhaps, keep in touch?” Y/N’s astonished face took away some of the courage and self-confidence he had just built up. “Of course, if you don’t want to…”

“No!” Grabbing his arm lightly, “I’d love to keep in touch! I was,” Y/N smiled, a little self-deprecatingly, “I was just surprised that you wanted to.”

“Good! Yes…” Both stood there silent, before jolting into action. “Uh, here,” Steve juggled his bags around, pulling out his HOHO, “I’ll just send my number to you.” A dinging noise went off seconds later, “There, uh, where I live, the internet there can be spotty sometimes,” Usually, it due to a certain polar bear messing with it whenever they went to search for food.

“I guess, I’ll message you.”

“Yeah, great.” Except it wasn’t. Steve didn’t want to leave; the day had been so wonderful… “Are you busy tomorrow?”

“No, not really. Why?”

Well, he didn’t have to be back at Headquarters later that week, so why not simply take a different flight? “I don’t leave just yet, and I was wondering if you could show me some of your favourite spots in San Diego… And, um, I can buy you dinner.”

“I’d love to.”

“Great.”


End file.
